Pietersen eyeing century in Ashes to banish his ‘gloom and doom’ demons

LONDON - England batsman Kevin Pietersen is confident that despite his patchy form in the last two years, he can re-establish himself during the upcoming Ashes series.

The South African born batsman has averaged just 36.90 since the start of the 2009 Ashes series and has failed to score a Test century since March last year.

“Even with all the doom and gloom over the way I’ve been playing I think I’ve averaged 40 over the last 18 months or so. So, it’s not all bad,” the Daily Mail quoted Pietersen, as saying.

“I am looking for that Test hundred and I am looking to put myself back to where I was. I’d love people to see how hard I train and all the work I do away from the game to put things right.”

“I am trying so hard to get back to where I used to be. Maybe I’ve been trying too hard, I don’t know. But I’m doing everything I can to get back to being the player I have been,” he added.

The 30-year-old, who announced himself to the world with some stunning innings in the 2005 Ashes, further said that he is still hungry for more runs and success.

“I’m still driven and hungry. I still want it. But when you become a father you do have distractions. It’s a time which coincided with a slump in form, but I still don’t think I’d have had that slump if the wickets had been good and conditions had been more in the batsmen’s favour,” Pietersen said.

“I sorted everything out technically in Bangladesh and I still feel my game has been sorted, but there are no excuses for my form. I didn’t play well enough this summer. Now I need to put the record straight in Australia,” he added. (ANI)